Acanthurinae

Acanthurinae is a subfamily of fish belonging to the family Acanthuridae, including 55 species in four genera.

Acanthurinae
Acanthurus sohal
Scientific classification
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Acanthurinae
Paracanthurus hepatus

Description

Among the species of the genera Acanthurus and Zebrasoma there are small anatomical differences: the first are disc-shaped and have a crescent-shaped tail, while the Zebrasoma species have ovaloid profile and a protruding muzzle.

The fry is transparent and has 13 venomous spines on the spine. The appearance changes when the specimen reaches the size of about 10 cm.

Like all species of the family Acanthuridae, Acanthurinae have a retractable spine on the caudal peduncle. It is very sharp (as a lancet) and it is used as an extreme defense. To emphasize the importance of this spine many species have showy aposematic colors in the caudal peduncle (or even directly a colored lancet).

Species

References

Bibliography

  • Joseph S. Nelson: Fishes of the World. John Wiley & Sons, 2006, ISBN 0-471-25031-7
  • André Luty: Doktorfische - Lebensweise - Pflege - Arten. Dähne Verlag, Ettlingen 1999, ISBN 3-921684-61-7
  • Andreas Vilcinskas: Meerestiere der Tropen, Franckh-Kosmos Verlag, Stuttgart 2000, ISBN 3-440-07943-0
  • Helmut Debelius und Rudie H. Kuiter: Doktorfische und ihre Verwandten. Ulmer Verlag Stuttgart 2002, ISBN 3-8001-3669-4
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